Movie review : Super 8

[ No Spoilers ]

I’m going to start off with what’s wrong with this movie . . .

I’m thinking . . .

Just a second. I’m sure I can come up with something . . .

Nope, I’m stumped. Can’t think of a single thing that’s wrong with this movie. It’s great from beginning to end. J.J. Abrams is should get loads of kudos his writing and directing for this. Not since Stephen Spielberg did E.T. has a director gotten so much out of a cast of kids. All of these kids go through a wide range of emotions and never miss a beat. I really have to think that just about anyone can be a solid actor if they have great direction.

There’s not much to say about the story without hinting at some spoilers. Safe to say that it’s a good story and mystery that slowly unravels. So really try and avoid letting anyone give anything away.

The editing is amazingly tight. Finding peetimes for this movie was a real challenge. I had to pick two near the end that basically make the best of a bad situation. There’s just not a lot of downtime in this movie. There’s hardly a 3 minute span that goes by that doesn’t have an important character moment or something that advances the story.

This isn’t just science fiction movie making at its best. It’s pure movie making brilliance.

Note to Mr Abrams: You’ve earned a break after this movie. Enjoy a 2 week vacation and then get your ass busy working on the next Star Trek movie.

Uhh, I can find a lot wrong. How about Abrams seems more concerned with paying homage to about 6 Spielberg films rather than making his own. Then, and call this the “Titanic” syndrome, let’s throw a bunch of amazing visuals at people to blind them from the fact that the writing is very pedestrian. In this case, it seems like when the story drags, “Let’s blow something else up!”
Finally, to slay what appears to be a deadly grease spot, simply tell it “Bad things happen.” Uhh…compelling! Nobody in all those years could come up with that jewel? Who wouldn’t want to take the first water tower out of town…

I wish these Hollywood types would hire a normal person to straighten out their complete lack of understanding about physics. [semi-spoiler] When a 100-ton locomotive has a head-on with a 1-ton pickup, what happens? According to Hollywood, the train stops dead and flies up in the air, and the pickup lands somewhere with the front end damaged but the occupant only dazed, not annihilated like in real life. When there is a giant train wreck in progress, which way do you run? Do you run alongside the tracks or do you run as far away from the tracks as possible? Dumb movie.

Yes, and lets not forget that kids would certianly know that you should run perependicular to the train tracks to get away… Of course they wouldn’t do that! One, they’re in shock, and are YOUNG kids. Some adults don’t even think of that! If you were just sitting there and shooting a movie and suddenly, BOOM, crap hits the fan, you’re not going to think about ‘Oh, we should run away from the train tracks!’ No, you’re going to think ‘Aw crap! We’re gonna die! We need to get away from the train!’